in a sentence

([question indicator])

Full dictionary entry HSK 1 115 sentences

吗 (mǎ) means ([question indicator]). Below are 24 of the 115 sentences on this site that use it — with pinyin, an English translation and audio. All of them were written by hand; none is machine generated.

Dictionary examples

你是学生

Nǐ shì xuésheng ma?

Are you a student?

Dictionary example · HSK 1 ·

你吃饭了

Nǐ chīfàn le ma?

Have you eaten yet?

Dictionary example · HSK 1 ·

你吃完了

Nǐ chī wán le ma?

Have you finished eating?

Dictionary example · HSK 2 ·

你会游泳

Nǐ huì yóuyǒng ma?

Can you swim?

Dictionary example · HSK 2 · 游泳

空调关了

Kōngtiáo guān le ma?

Has the air conditioning been turned off?

Dictionary example · HSK 3 ·

你能来我家

Nǐ néng lái wǒ jiā ma?

Can you come to my house?

Dictionary example · HSK 1 ·

今天有时间

Jīntiān yǒu shíjiān ma?

Do you have time today?

Dictionary example · HSK 1 ·

From the graded readers

她说:“喂,你好 ?”

tā shuō:" wèi, nǐhǎo mǎ?"

She said, "Hello, how are you?"

Graded reader · HSK 1 · A Phone Call

她问我:“你吃饭了 ?”

tā wèn wǒ:" nǐ chīfàn le / liǎo / liào mǎ?"

She asked, "Have you eaten?"

Graded reader · HSK 1 · A Phone Call

明天天气会好 ?我不知道。

míngtiān tiānqì huì hǎo / hào mǎ? wǒ bùzhī dào.

Will the weather be good tomorrow? I don't know.

Graded reader · HSK 1 · The Weather Today

我问他:“我可以去上班 ?”

wǒ wèn tā:" wǒ kěyǐ qù shàngbān mǎ?"

I asked him, "Can I go to work?"

Graded reader · HSK 2 · Going to the Doctor

我问她:“你们现在还联系 ?”

wǒ wèn tā:" nǐmen xiànzài hái / huán liánxì mǎ?"

I asked her, "Are you still in touch?"

Graded reader · HSK 4 · An Old Photograph

妈妈说:“便宜一点儿,可以 ?”

māma shuō:" piányi yīdiǎn ér, kěyǐ mǎ?"

Mum said, "A bit cheaper, could you?"

Graded reader · HSK 1 · Going Shopping

From the travel phrasebook

到了

Dào le ma?

Are we there?

Travel phrasebook · Taxis and ride-hailing

要辣

Yào là ma?

Do you want it spicy?

Travel phrasebook · Ordering in a restaurant

含税

Hánshuì ma?

Does that include tax?

Travel phrasebook · Negotiating and pricing

走高速

Zǒu gāosù ma?

Shall we take the expressway?

Travel phrasebook · Taxis and ride-hailing

要发票

Yào fāpiào ma?

Do you want a receipt?

Travel phrasebook · Taxis and ride-hailing

还有票

Hái yǒu piào ma?

Are there any tickets left?

Travel phrasebook · High-speed rail and the metro

From the grammar library

你明天来

Nǐ míngtiān lái ma?

Are you coming tomorrow?

Grammar library · HSK 1 · 吗 and 呢 questions

你听见了

Nǐ tīngjiàn le ma?

Did you hear that?

Grammar library · HSK 3 · Result complements — 完, 好, 到, 见

你喜欢中国菜

Nǐ xǐhuan Zhōngguó cài ma?

Do you like Chinese food?

Grammar library · HSK 1 · 吗 and 呢 questions

这儿附近有银行

Zhèr fùjìn yǒu yínháng ma?

Is there a bank near here?

Grammar library · HSK 1 · 有 — have and there is

便宜一点儿,可以

Piányi yìdiǎnr, kěyǐ ma?

A bit cheaper, could you?

Grammar library · HSK 3 · 一点儿 vs 有点儿

吗 appears in 115 sentences on this site; the 24 shortest and most direct are shown. The rest are on the pages they were written for — the graded readers, the phrasebook and the grammar library.

Questions about 吗

How is 吗 used in a sentence?

This page shows 115 sentences using 吗 (mǎ, "([question indicator])"), each with pinyin, an English translation and audio. Every one of them was written by hand for this site.

Are these sentences machine generated?

No. They come from the site's own dictionary examples, graded readers, travel phrasebook and grammar library — all written by a person. A word with no sentence gets no page here, rather than a page of invented ones.

Why do some sentences show 吗 inside a longer word?

Because that is where a single character usually lives. Seeing 吗 inside the words it builds is how the character stops being an isolated symbol and starts being something you can read.

Is 吗 an HSK word?

Yes — 吗 is on the official HSK 1 vocabulary list, and you can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 1 page.

Where can I see the full entry for 吗?

The dictionary page for 吗 has its stroke order, its traditional form, every sense the dictionary lists and a character-by-character breakdown. It is linked at the top of this page.

Keep going

Read the full entry for 吗, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, drill it with HSK 1 flashcards, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.

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